Hobby culture
Snowflakes
Trade name Tentative
Also sold as Snowflake
A culture sold as Snowflakes. The working identification is Onychiurinae sp. 'Snowflakes'.
Read this first
The identification is a working one. Do not cite it as a confirmed species.
What the name stands for
Three different things share one name. A culture is not a species, and a species is not the animals in your tub. Keeping them apart is how this site avoids repeating the trade's mistakes.
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The culture
A lineage kept in tubs and passed between keepers under one name. The name comes from the trade.
- Name type
- Trade name
The origin of this stock is not documented.
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The species it matches
The working identification, and how it was reached.
Onychiurinae sp. 'Snowflakes'- Name form
- sp. (species not named) The genus is known. The species is not.
- How sure
- Tentative A best guess that needs checking.
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The animals checked
No specimen has been examined. The name rests on the trade label.
- Basis
- Trade label only
- Review
- Reviewed by a curator
Care advice follows the working identification. Check it against what you see.
What would settle it
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Which species is the Snowflake culture?
Identification Needs a specialist
Why it matters. Eyeless pale springtails look alike. Pseudocelli, the postantennal organ, furca and setae decide the species, and none of them has been recorded for this culture.
What would help. Slide-mounted adults examined for pseudocelli, the postantennal organ and the third antennal segment organ.
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Which species is this culture, checked by a specialist?
Identification Needs a voucher specimen
Why it matters. Hobby cultures are mostly named from a seller's label or a photograph. A wrong name spreads from seller to keeper and then into care advice.
What would help. Preserved vouchers from the culture in 80 to 95 percent ethanol, mounted specimens examined by a springtail specialist, and a DNA barcode where a reference exists. Deposit the voucher with a museum or a university collection.